Years
by spockandawe
Summary: He'd known her since she'd been the little blind girl who took the ring by storm.


Oops, it turns out I ship it like burning. This is hands down my favorite Toph ship now. I need to name it, but perhaps I should stick to trying to be clever when it isn't 3 AM.

(Also I kind of really wanted to replace every instance of 'I' in this first-person story with 'The Boulder')

* * *

She had only been a child when I met her. The Earth Rumbles had always been a bunch of flash and show for the crowd. The Boulder had planned speeches and exaggerated his character along with the others, but the skill- that had always been real. I had won honestly against the others benders and fought my way to the top using just that skill. I was proud, but I had the bending to back it up. The first time the little girl had showed up at the fight, nobody wanted to let her participate. One well-meaning person tried to take her hand to help her home to her parents. After what she did to him, nobody really had the nerve to tell her she had to leave.

Well, we were all sure it would only last one round. She could get into the ring and have her moment, and we'd have benders watching to make sure she didn't fall off the edge. We should have worried more after she won in only seconds, but it was too surreal. This couldn't actually be happening. The more I watched her fight, the more worried I got. I was defending my title, so she'd be the only one I was fighting tonight. Round after round, and I was certain it was going to all come down to me and her. I was ready. I wasn't underestimating her anymore and fought my hardest, but she finished me as quickly as the others.

That was a blow to my pride. No matter how often we faced each other, she beat me just as easily as she had the first time. I had trained for years to get where I was, and it was difficult to see her win time after time. She didn't want to play the game either. She didn't make any speeches, and had no character beyond her natural overconfidence. While the rest of us laughed and talked between matches, she slipped away without a word as soon as nobody was watching.

When they tried to tell us that the matches were fixed, it didn't feel right. That boy had beat her without any real effort, and it hadn't been bending like anything I'd ever seen. But her pride- that had always been the biggest part of what she'd shown us. Even for money, would she have been willing to take a fall? I would have said no, but it was so tempting to believe that she was something less flawless than what she'd shown all of us.

Hearing the whole story in bits and pieces after the fact was incredible. The boy had been the Avatar and the Blind Bandit - Toph Beifong, I had to remember that now - had been the one he'd chosen as his earthbending teacher. I couldn't argue with his choice. If what we'd been seeing in the ring was her own personality, he'd certainly get an education. Those idiots Master Yu and Xin Fu went haring after the group trying to bring her home to her doting parents, but I couldn't imagine they'd ever have much luck. They wouldn't have stood a chance back when she was a sheltered noble brat who had to sneak away just to teach herself to bend and fight, and they'd only fall further behind now that she was out taking part in the war.

The war- that was an ugly reminder of things I'd been ignoring. It was shameful to think that this child was willing to go out there and fight while I was safe at home playing in little harmless tournaments for the sake of making a crowd cheer. I heard stories about how she'd helped save the Earth King from certain death, how she'd become the first person to ever bend metal. It was incredible, but if it was her, I could believe it. It took a long time to make the decision, but I wanted to change. When the Avatar called for fighters for a mission to invade the Fire Nation capital, I stepped forward.

Toph had changed in those months since she'd left. Before, I would have defended my decision to call her a brat. I couldn't really do that anymore. She'd seen things a child that young shouldn't have had to know about. She'd grown. She had an air about her that no one could have possibly missed, and every earthbender could feel the way the rock and stone responded to her. On the day of Black Sun, if you'd ask me to say who had led the earthbenders, I would have said that it was Toph Beifong.

When the invasion came to nothing, I was glad to see her leave safely. I would rather _not_ be captured by the Fire Nation, certainly, but if someone was going to stay with the Avatar to defend him, she was a much better choice than me. Prison wasn't easy. Everyone knew about the fighters who'd dared to invade the Fire Nation and the guards were sure to pay special attention to us. The Boulder made a triumphant return, and the suspicious guards eventually softened and began to laugh at the silly, larger than life character that hardly seemed to know he no longer had the upper hand. Once they relaxed, I heard rumors of the crown prince's desertion, that the princess's closest friends had turned on her. But it wasn't until the Firelord Ozai was defeated and we were freed that I heard everything that had really happened.

I returned to my home in the heart of the earth kingdom, where there were still people who hardly seemed to know there had ever been a war. It was peaceful. It was quiet. After seeing real fighting, I didn't have much stomach for the flash and showmanship of the ring. News came to us of the Avatar and his friends. It was all interesting, but the news of Toph Beifong was always the most interesting to me. I'd assumed that she was the first and only metalbender in the world, but she was confident enough that it was a skill that could be taught that she planned to open a metalbending school. Months later, there were rumors in the town of an attempted robbery at the Beifong mansion. When I made a detour to walk past the estate an mob of earthbenders was working to repair the damage, but that handiwork was unmistakable. Toph had been home to visit her parents.

It was some years before she was in the area again. I followed the news of her school's progress, but there was always some vague regret that she was being tied closer and closer to the new city that the Avatar was founding. I happened to be on the road between my home and the town when I _felt_ her come barreling down the path. She stopped before she ran me down, and began brusquely apologizing for the trouble before she recognized me. I had to smile when she called me 'The Boulder.' It had been years since I'd heard that name.

Seeing a face from the old days seemed to put her in a better mood. She insisted on going into the town together and buying me a drink by way of apology. Her life was even more unbelievable than the papers would have had me believe. Avatar Aang's Republic City was growing by leaps and bounds, and she'd been tentatively selected to lead its new police force. Her metalbending academy was doing so well that there was even talk of having a police force made entirely of metalbenders. When she'd come home to give her parents the news in person- that was where things had fallen apart. Her father didn't want her to live a life outside of what he might deem best for the good of the family, and her mother might love her, but wasn't willing to take the step of defying her husband.

It was gloomy talk. They'd spent the first half of her life hiding her from the world, then this. I did my best to change the subject and cheer her up. I told her everything I knew about my old friends from the Earth Rumble days. She chuckled to hear how she'd intimidated us and what a puzzle she'd always been. Some of the theories - not _mine_ - about her real identity had been truly ridiculous. She was grinning and laughing by the end of the evening, but insisted she couldn't stay any longer and she had to go back to the city. I began to tell her it was dangerous for a young lady to travel at night before catching myself, and she laughed at me one last time before leaving the bar and heading home.

She wasn't the little girl I'd met so long ago. She carried herself with such self-assurance and confidence, seemed at ease in any situation, spoke her mind without a concern for what anyone else might think. She was beautiful. It was still more than a year before I managed to make up my mind. But there had to be jobs in Republic City and it would be a definite change from country life. Perhaps there might even be a way to get myself into the metalbending academy. I was a good bender. Maybe that would be enough. Enough for her.

The city was more overwhelming than I expected. The streets were a confusing mess and the buildings looming overhead felt almost suffocating. But surely I could learn to love it. It wasn't overwhelming, it was interesting. Rich in experiences. A fast-paced life had to be better than the tedium of the countryside. I found cheap lodgings, and the following day asked passersby questions until I found my way to the police headquarters.

The man at the desk behind the front door didn't want to let me through. I insisted that Toph Beifong knew me, but he only said that every other visitor tried the same thing. I told him just to tell her that The Boulder had come to see her, and he rolled his eyes but stood and went to an anonymous door in the back of the room. I tried to smooth my hair down and straighten my clothes. The country styles looked out of place, but it was what I had brought with me. The man was back within minutes, all politeness and deference. He escorted me back through the same door, then back through a maze of hallways and staircases before leaving me in front of a door with 'Commander Beifong' painted onto the heavy wood.

At a shouted, "Come in!" I opened the door and stepped inside, letting it swing shut behind me. Toph was leaning back in a chair, talking quietly to a man in metal armor who bowed deeply and backed away before leaving through another door off to the side. "The Boulder! It's definitely a surprise to see you all the way up here."

I tried to launch into the speech I'd practiced about why I was an excellent candidate for learning metalbending and how I would make a superb policeman and she'd never regret deciding to take me on- It was hard to focus on the words once my heart began pounding and it was absolutely impossible to ignore the spreading grin on her face.

When my speech stuttered to a stop, she put her elbows up on the desk and steepled her fingers. "Hmm. I'm afraid that I'll have to turn you down."

I tried not to let the disappointment show too badly. "May I ask why?"

"See, they've got all kind of complicated new rules in this city. And as police chief, I'm kind of expected to follow them. It's some mess about how employers aren't allowed to date their employees..."

I stared. She couldn't mean-

Abruptly, Toph stood and took a few quick steps around the desk. "Unless you _want_ to be put in a position where I'm not allowed to see you like that?" She circled me like a predator toying with its helpless prey.

I cleared my throat twice before finally finding my voice. "That's not- I'd like-" I could feel my face practically glowing and was glad at least that she wasn't able to see it. "I'd like-"

"Mm, that's what I thought."

It felt like an electric shock when she finally touched me. She took my hands and placed them firmly on her hips as she molded herself against me. I wasn't that tall, but she still had to stretch to kiss me, standing on her toes and pressing me back against the desk. Her hands moved to my cheeks, holding me close. I felt hardly able to respond. This couldn't be real. She could have had me on the desk, and I think she might have done it, but all of a sudden she broke away and took a few quick steps to her chair.

Before I could ask what was wrong, there was a knock at the door behind me, and a woman in metal armor leaned into the room to ask a few quick questions before thanking Toph and leaving. Toph sighed as the door closed. "I assume you have a room somewhere?" I nodded dumbly. "I don't think you'll be needing that anymore."

"I won't?"

"You can keep it if you want, but I rather think it will be easier for you to stay at my house."

"It will?"

She laughed. "Unless you'd rather not? But I don't think I misunderstand you."

"No! I mean yes. Just- are _you_ sure?"

"I think I know what I want. Right now, what I want is you." I went beet red again. "I can't do anything about it while I'm at work, but tonight," she practically purred, "Tonight... I'll be seeing you." I tried to thank her as well as I could, but she waved me off. "I've been waiting for this for months. Really, I'm surprised it took you this long to get out here. I was just thinking I should find the time to make another visit out to the countryside."

There was another knock from behind me and she groaned. "Wait in the lobby and I'll send someone to help you move your things. Remember- _tonight._"

The last thing I heard as I left the room was her shouting for a page, then, "The Boulder will be needing-" as the door swung shut behind me. I'd remember. Tonight!


End file.
